News tagged ‘USA’

According to what Tim Cook told local Apple employees during his latest visit to Berlin, Germany, the long-anticipated Apple Watch will be water resistant. Looks like the guys from Cupertino modified the original smartwatch model. You see, back in September, it was reported that it was impossible to take shower with the device on one’s wrist without damaging it.

According to the latest report from the Wall Street Journal, Google is currently planning to revamp its Google Wallet service in order to compete with the recently-released NFC-based payments system called Apple Pay. The new Wallet will be officially announced this May, at the annual Google I/O developer conference, reporters claim. While this rumor hasn’t yet been confirmed, such a step is quite possible as the only way to compete with Apple’s payments service is to make Google’s own service better.

After hundreds of users’ complaints and months of silence, Apple has finally announced a repair program for those MacBook Pro models, which suffer from graphics issues. The list of models eligible for the repair includes 15-inch and 17-inch MacBook Pros released in 2011, 15-inch MacBook Pro released in 2012 and 15-inch MacBook Pro released early in 2013. Moreover, Apple says it will contact those users, who had to pay to fix the aforementioned problem earlier in order to issue a refund.

I’ve already told you about mysterious Apple vans with strange camera systems on the roof. Moreover, we’ve already seen images from different parts of the USA showing these vehicles on the roads. Thanks to attentive and pretty active Internet users, we can now take a look at a short video showing a closer look at the white Apple van. As usual, the video and its description are available below.

According to the latest rumors shared by reliable insiders, Apple’s chief product designer Jony Ive and retail executive Angela Ahrendts are currently working on a major redesign of Apple's retail stores in the USA and other countries. Such a step is aimed at making retail locations more natural and comfortable for customers. These changes will focus customers’ attention on new products, for example, on the Apple Watch, which is expected to be released in April. As usual, there’s no official confirmation of the rumors from Apple.

According to the information that was made public ahead of the White House Summit on Cybersecurity at Stanford University, the U.S. government may soon make Apple Pay available for the owners of federal-payment cards. The big event may take place in September. These cards include Social Security cards as well as those issued to veterans getting financial support from the state. The official U.S. government acknowledgement will become a massive step forward for Apple, which can help the company lure lots of new customers not only from the USA, but also from other countries. Moreover, this acknowledgement proves that the NFC-based payments system ensures a high level of security for customers, banks and other partners of the company.

According to the latest report from people familiar with the matter, Apple has begun training its retail employees in the USA and the U.K. ahead of the launch of the long-awaited Apple Watch. The stores staff has reportedly begun getting acquainted with the new wearable device, its specs and features. Retail employees should be aware of every particular detail of the smartwatch in order to be able to sell it and help those customers who encounter problems connected with the gadget.

For the first time since 2012, iOS market share in the USA has beaten the market share of Google’s Android, Kantar Worldpanel ComTech reporters write. Moreover, they also claim that the share of Apple’s mobile operating system has grown in Europe and China as well. The reason for such an impressive result is the immense popularity of the iPhone 6 and the iPhone 6 Plus among the users.

According to the latest report released by Western Union, the service has recently begun supporting Apple Pay. This means that from now on, the customers from all over the USA can transfer money or pay bills with the help of Western Union directly from their iPhone.

As you probably know, Apple is expected to announce its financial results in the first fiscal quarter of 2015 on Tuesday, January 27th. Today, a new report has been released by the Financial Times reporters, which suggests that the guys from Cupertino may have sold more iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus units in China than in the USA in the last quarter. This happened for the first time in the history of the company. Still, it should be noted that the report is based on the analysts' estimates and rumors, that is why I suggest that you should take it with a few pinches of salt.

According to the latest report released by a research firm Consumer Intelligence Research Partners (CIRP), Apple managed to get 50% of the smartphone sales in the USA in the calendar quarter ending in December. In other words, half of the handsets sold on the territory of the United States over the last few months are Apple's iPhones.

Back in October, the guys from Cupertino launched their NFC-based mobile payments service called Apple Pay in the USA. Currently the system is incredibly popular among the American customers. It can boast of the support of the largest banks and financial institutions, retailers, supermarkets and cafes. Moreover, according to Apple's page devoted to the partners working with Apple Pay, the company has earlier this week added 15 new banks to the list of those that support the advanced payments method.

A number of Apple Stores across the USA have encountered with iPod shuffle shortages this week. This has caused rumors suggesting that Apple will no longer produce the smallest and the cheapest portable music player in its lineup. As it turned out, this rumors don’t make sense. The guys from Cupertino have no plans to stop the manufacture of the iPod shuffle. This week’s shortage is a result of supplier changes, which have temporarily stopped the production process.

Several weeks after the rumor about Apple’s plans to launch Apple Pay in the UK in the first half of 2015, a new one appeared on the Net, which suggests that the guys from Cupertino are currently thinking about the launch of the NFC-based payments service in Canada in the near future. In fact, reliable sources believe that the debut of the new service will take place in March.

The guys from Cupertino have recently begun selling unlocked and SIM-free iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus models in the USA. Such smartphones are currently available on Apple’s American online store. Still, there’s one drawback: those who plan to purchase one of such carrier-free handsets will have to wait several days. The shipping estimates for the aforementioned models are 3-5 business days.